


Swipe Right

by pylador19



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, Humor, I just thought it would a cute idea, I thought I was being funny??, I'm Sorry, I'm not good at this?, M/M, Misadventures on a dating app
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 08:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15725775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pylador19/pseuds/pylador19
Summary: Doyoung recognises the name and recognises the pictures. He doesn't understand though; why would Jung Jaehyun of NCT be on a dating app of all places?(Or, Doyoung has the worst friends who are unable to mind their own damn business)





	Swipe Right

**Author's Note:**

> This came from a prompt I saw on a Tumblr account quite a while ago where person A talks to person B- a celebrity- on a dating app and doesn't believe it's them until they actually show up. If anyone knows what I'm on about, please link me to the page as I'd like to give proper credit. 
> 
> Whilst a tiny proportion of this is based off of what people I know have witnessed whilst on dating apps, big shout out to Google and the Instagram page tindernightmares for providing some content in this. 
> 
> Saying that, I rated this as Teen And Up because of some of the stuff mentioned in the fic. 
> 
> Finally, this was written over the course of many, many... many months. During times of inspiration, boredom, kinda on a bit of alcohol, and times where my anxiety was like "welp! it's gonna be one of these days!" so if you read this fic and think '... what the hell was THAT?' it was most likely a mix of all of these things... I warned you in advance.

It all started thanks to Yuta’s inability to stay out of other people’s business. He had waited until Ten’s birthday when Doyoung had near enough passed out from the amount that he had drunk- Ring of Fire had proven to be his kryptonite- and ignoring protests from others, Ten had made sure Doyoung didn’t wake up whilst Yuta reached for his phone in his front pocket, grinning evilly to himself.

Doyoung woke the next morning in his bedroom with no recollection of how he’d gotten there. He was still in the clothes he went out in the night before, and it felt like someone was drilling a hole into his head. Feeling like he was going to throw up if he made any sudden movements, Doyoung slowly moves his arm around until he finds his phone and checks to see the damage done from last night’s antics. 

[ **Taeyong:** We’re going out for lunch and suffering together if you’re alive and wanna join]

[ **Gongmyung:** You threw up in the bin before I left. Just so you know, you totally owe me for this!]

[seulgibear, pepi_jy_, and 22 others liked your post.]

[Kim Jongin (@zkdlin) has requested to follow you.]

[Snapchat: ten10 sent you a message!]

[Snapchat: ynakamoto95 replayed your video!]

Doyoung continues to read through his notifications, groaning not only at how much pain he was in, but also from how embarrassing he had probably been the previous night. He knew he should have said no to the drinking games, he always was a lightweight compared to his friends. Doyoung continues to scroll through his notifications, some unanswered messages, some drunken messages that Taeyong had sent him sometime during the night. It’s then that something catches his eye.

[Congratulations! You have a new match!]

“… what?”

There are two more notifications like that which follow. Unlocking his phone, Doyoung finds a new app waiting for him. When did he download this? Opening the app up, the realisation of just what it was quickly dawned on Doyoung and he chucked his phone down the other end of the bed with a scandalised gasp. He would _never_ download an app like this! Did he download it sometime during the night? Surely, he would have remembered such a thing, especially because Yuta would never-

“ _Yuta._ ”

 

 

“How could you do this to me?”

The four of them are stood in line at McDonalds. The moment Doyoung had spotted his friends, he immediately began questioning Yuta about what he was thinking when he downloaded the app.

“It’s your fault your password is your birthday” Yuta replies, rubbing his head. “And I got tired of you complaining about not having a boyfriend all the time, so I showed initiative and decided to help you.”

“By downloading a dating app? _Seriously?_ ”

Yuta studies him as the line slowly moves along. He then grins and points a finger towards his friend. “You haven’t deleted the app, have you?”

Doyoung tries to think of something to say back, but he’s at a loss for words. How did Yuta figure that out so quickly?

“You’re blushing” Yuta states, as if he read his mind. “Just give it a go, maybe you’ll find somebody you really like on there. Ten and I went through a load of profiles picked the best ones out for you last night whilst you-”

“You did what?!”

In front of them, Ten whines and buries his head into Taeyong’s neck, muttering something under his breath. “I know you’re angry at Yuta, but can’t this wait until after we’ve eaten? I’m dying, you’re dying, and I can’t take Ten’s whining much longer” Taeyong pleads.

Reluctantly, Doyoung drops the conversation about the app, falling into silence again as the line moved slowly forward.

“This isn’t over” Doyoung hisses at Yuta who just smiles obnoxiously and lightly pats him on the head.

 

 

Doyoung takes Yuta’s advice and spends most of the following evenings looking through the app. It was pretty simple really; swipe right if he liked the person, swipe left if he didn’t. If they matched, he could talk to the guy and see how he felt about them before doing… anything else. The only problem was that even Doyoung would admit he was an extremely picky guy. He could be talking to the man of his dream, and yet would drop him like that for a number of extremely picky reasons; too short, vaped, one guy who had an eyebrow piercing also mentioned he had nipple piercings as well. As lovely as he was, Doyoung quickly stopped talking to him after that.

“Uh Doyoung, that Kibum guy keeps messaging you.”

“Yeah… I’m not talking to him anymore.”

“Doyoung! He’s the medical student!”

“… he also smokes. I don’t like smokers.”

Then there were the… delightful messages that Doyoung had to put up with from desperate people who really thought they had a chance of getting with someone.

[What’s the difference between me and your couch?]

[Tell me :P]

[I feel better to sit on ;)]

Doyoung should have suspected that this would happen, and promptly stopped talking to the guy.

[I want to paint you green and spank you like a disobedient avocado]

[And I want to burn my eyeballs so I can unsee that sentence.]

“I mean… why would you even compare someone to an… an avocado?” his brother had asked when Doyoung showed him the message over a family dinner.

“Not just any avocado, a disobedient avocado” Doyoung had replied, closing the app just as his mum clocked onto the both of them.

“What’s got you two so concerned?” she asked as she reached across the table for Doyoung’s phone.

“U-Uh, it’s nothing mum! Really!”

Their mum didn’t seem convinced and still reached for Doyoung’s phone even after her son had put it out of her reach. There was no way he was going to let his mum see what her son got up to. She still failed to accept that he was now a young man in his twenties and was free to do as he pleased.

“Really mum you wouldn’t get it. It’s more… our generation of humour, rather than yours” his brother chipped in and their mum seemed to buy it. The look she gave them showed that the matter wasn’t over with, but she would drop it for now. After that incident, Doyoung and his brother agreed to never discuss Doyoung’s dating app adventures in front of their parents again.

[As I match with you

It’s crass but I must speak true

My penis is hard

A haiku]

[Gross]

“You have to give it to him, at least he made it rhyme” was Yuta’s not so helpful response when Doyoung showed his friends the atrocity in the campus library the next day.

Then there were the dick pics. Too many dick pics for Doyoung’s liking. Why were the guys he was talking to even sending them in the first place? There was no point in the chat where it was suitable to send one. Just when Doyoung thought he had found a guy he liked, they went and did that. Doyoung never wanted a dick pic unless he asked for one.

The first one sent to him, he had opened whilst on a bus back from campus. Luckily, there was nobody sat behind him, and the elderly lady next to him had her attention elsewhere. That could have been awkward. The second time had been during a lecture and Doyoung very nearly screamed when he saw the picture, scrambling to close the app before anybody around him saw it. The most recent had been a week ago when he, Ten, and Taeyong had gone out for some much-needed drinks (Yuta was absolutely ‘devastated’ that he couldn’t go- he had to study for a test he had the next day). The more drinks the group had, the more willing his friends were to help Doyoung think of responses to give to the guy he was currently talking to. When it was Taeyong’s turn to buy the next round of drinks, he had left the other two just as a new message popped up on Doyoung’s screen. Judging from how the conversation had been going, Ten started squealing over what was going to happen next.

“Shush! People are starting to stare!” Doyoung exclaimed, though he also had an idea of what was about to happen and was giddy himself. Doyoung opened the app up and checked the message, but the hype that they had built dissipated immediately when they saw the picture.

“Oh, that’s disappointing” he heard Ten mutter.

Taeyong returned to find the two of them crying with laughter.

Doyoung wasn’t having the best of luck with the app. The majority of it was down to his own pickiness. He just couldn’t find a guy he properly connected with… or who didn’t send him unnecessary dick pics.

His patience wearing thin and his luck running out, Doyoung had grown to hate the app and- despite protests from Yuta and Ten- almost deleted the app.

Almost.

 

 

On the day that he was planning to delete the app, Doyoung spent the evening looking through the app one final time, hoping that luck would be on his side and he would find somebody worth talking to. Aimlessly swiping left, Doyoung paused when he came across a profile that peaked his interest.

Jung Jaehyun.

Where had he heard that name before? He also recognised the photos this Jaehyun had added. A quick Google search revealed that he was a member of a group Yuta was obsessed with. What was their name? ASV? NCT?

Going back to the profile, Doyoung scoffed at the effort this troll was putting into trying to convince people that they were an actual celebrity. A celebrity on a dating app for that matter! It was too good to be true.

[You’ve got balls attempting this. As if anybody would believe you.]

Doyoung sent the message still laughing at the profile. Expecting no reply, Doyoung closes the app and goes to take a shower, putting it to the back of his mind. When he came back and actually found a reply from this so called Jaehyun, he was pleasantly surprised. 

[… Huh?]

Doyoung reads the message and scoffs. Was that really the best response he could come up with?

[You’re not fooling anybody. You really expect people to believe you’re actually Jung Jaehyun from NCT?]

A minute or so passes before he gets a reply.

[But I am Jung Jaehyun from NCT…]

Was Doyoung ever going to catch a break on this god-forsaken app?

[Sure. And I’m the King of Sweden.]

[It’s an honour to meet you Your Highness!]

He should have seen that one coming. Thinking of something to reply with, another message is immediately sent from ‘Jaehyun’ that intrigues him.

[What proof do you need to believe me? I can send you a photo?]

The whole exchange was beginning to amuse Doyoung rather than annoy him. The fact that this guy was willing to go to such lengths to prove that he was the real deal made him laugh instead of frustrated. Nonetheless, he agrees to a photo and waits for a moment until the so called ‘Jaehyun’ sent one to him. The photo is pretty simple; a selfie of him drinking from a Frappuccino. A quick Instagram search and Doyoung finds NCT’s official page and the exact same photo posted by the real Jaehyun a couple of hours earlier. Anybody could easily edit the photo to use it to their own will, and that’s exactly what Doyoung sends back to the guy with a screenshot of the same post.

[You’re really not buying this, are you?]

 

 

Doyoung was meant to delete the stupid app that night, and yet two weeks later he was still on it talking to ‘Jaehyun’. He puts it down to how amusing it was watching this person pose as a celebrity and then watch as they became increasingly annoyed that Doyoung wasn’t believing them. He loved every moment of it.

[Alright then. If you’re this big celebrity, what the heck are you doing on an app like this?]

[My idiot friend Johnny decided that I had been too lonely for too long and set me up on here. Without my permission! Two hours I was looking for my phone and when I get it back, there’s about eight notifications from this!]

Oh, Doyoung knew that feeling very well.

[So, you’re still on this stupid app instead of deleting it?] 

Doyoung had told ‘Jaehyun’ how he came onto this app a week after he had started talking to him. ‘Jaehyun’ had been trying to get to know Doyoung more, but the latter wasn’t buying it, especially if this man wasn’t who he said he was.

[You’re one to talk.]

Doyoung walked right into that one.

 

 

“What’s so funny?” Yuta asks one evening.

“None of your business” Doyoung replies, not looking up from his phone and trying to hide a smirk at the next message ‘Jaehyun’ had sent him.

“Ohhh he’s talking to someone from the app!” Ten exclaims and Doyoung jumps when he realises how close he is. What follows next is the three of them fighting for Doyoung’s phone whilst Taeyong stands back and watches as Ten sits on Doyoung’s stomach and Yuta grabs the phone. Doyoung shoves Ten off of him and scrambles for his phone but it’s too late. The damage has been done.

“You’re talking to Jaehyun?” Yuta shrieks. “As in Jung Jaehyun? As in NCT’s Jung Jaehyun?”

“What?” Ten shouts and rushes to join Yuta. Even Taeyong’s interested and joins. them as Yuta scrolls through previous messages.

“Will you guys mind your own business?” Doyoung shouts in frustration, swiping for his phone but missing it again as Yuta holds it in the air. “And it’s not Jung Jaehyun, it’s a fake!”

“And you know that for a fact?”

No. He didn’t.

“Of course, I do! Anybody could pretend to be a celebrity on a dating app! It’s a thing called catfishing.”

Yuta spends the next five minutes finding every selfie that ‘Jaehyun’ had sent Doyoung since the two of them had started talking. Doyoung argued back that he was able to find those exact selfies on Instagram or the internet.

“What about this one then?” Yuta asks, showing Doyoung the selfie ‘Jaehyun’ had sent him after he had supposedly finished his latest gym session.

“… Photoshop” Doyoung protests weekly as Yuta and Ten both scoff at his answer and carry on looking through their messages. This was an extreme breach of privacy and once his phone was returned, Doyoung wasn’t talking to any of them for the rest of his life!

Yuta then finds the messages that ‘Jaehyun’ had sent Doyoung trying to get to know him. When he finds that Doyoung ignored them or changed the subject, he demands that Doyoung tell him immediately why he did so. Was he crazy? Did he want to remain lonely for the rest of his life? Why nag about being single if when the opportunity came, he was going to waste it?

“What if he is the real deal?” Doyoung finally bursts out. “Let’s say this guy is the real Jung Jaehyun, why then would he pick me? Of all the guys on the app, and there are a fair few who are _extremely_ attractive, why would he go for someone like me?”

Silence falls over the group and Doyoung regrets his words immediately. What he said was true, but he hated the pitying looks from his friends. He didn’t need their pity.

“You’ve really got to stop putting yourself down like this” Taeyong replies gently. He launches into a speech that is meant to boost Doyoung’s confidence, trying to be a good friend, but Doyoung doesn’t want to hear it. He’s heard it enough times over the years.

He feels like he’s back in school again, but his sentiments are still there. If this was the real Jung Jaehyun, a renowned superstar, why would he go for Doyoung? He could have any celebrity for his choosing (he’s watched the interviews, plenty of celebrity’s name him as their ideal type) and yet he was spending his time on a stupid dating app talking to a nobody. There was a reason Doyoung was so fussy when it came to who he spoke to. It was why he found such little things to dislike about a guy; the sooner he dropped them, the quicker he’d escape the pain of having them leave him when they found out he wasn’t the guy they thought he was.

“I wonder if Jaehyun would send a message to Winwin for me?”

“Don’t you dare!”

 

 

[Hi this is Doyoung’s friend Yuta! Love NCT and your music by the way (don’t worry, I believe that you’re the real deal) and can I just say, your look for the Fire Truck era, sublime. Also, can you tell Winwin that he’s my favourite member and I think he’s absolutely adorable. I would appreciate it very much!]

[Um… thank you for your support I guess? (I also thought I looked really good during Fire Truck promotions). Winwin appreciated your comments but was- understandably- very confused.]

Their choreographer calls times for the day and the members slump to the floor; exhausted, sweaty, sore. Crawling over to his bag, Jaehyun finds a new message from Doyoung this time, opening the app and laughing at the reply.

[Ignore my friend, he’s an idiot]

[Although, I’ve never heard a grown man squeal so loudly over a group member before]

“Is that your lover boy?” Johnny teases, slumping down next to him.

“His friend this time” Jaehyun replies, elbowing Johnny in the side. “And he’s not my lover boy.”

“Yet” Johnny adds, laughing and dodging a slap to the head. “You’ve been messaging him for weeks, almost months, now. Surely you’re ready to meet each other by now?”

Jaehyun frowns and shakes his head, sighing when he meets Johnny’s confused look. “He refuses to believe I’m the real Jaehyun and not somebody else trying to catfish him. I’ve even sent him selfies that are nowhere on the internet, and he think they’re photoshopped!” he explains, pouting. “Some of them are my best ones as well.”

Johnny stays silent for a moment, carefully thinking of what to say next. “I mean, whether he thinks you’re the real deal or not, you really like him. I think I’ve seen you smile more times just from his messages than you have at people we’ve actually met. Just… try and ask him if he wants to meet. The worst thing that’ll happen is he rejects you and I’ll be there waiting with ice cream!”

“Wow. Your confidence is reassuring.”

Jaehyun spends the next couple of hours left of their schedule trying to work up the courage to ask Doyoung to meet him. The only fear running through his mind was that Doyoung didn’t want to meet him and stopped talking to him. But then what if he accepted and Jaehyun had to work up the courage to finally meet him in the flesh? When he finally musters up the courage to ask him, Jaehyun opens up the app and stalls when he finds a message from Doyoung waiting for him instead.

[Why did you reply to my message?]

Huh. Well that was pretty easy to answer. 

[Your profile bio made me laugh. Much more entertaining than the others] 

What Jaehyun didn’t know was that since Doyoung had noticed his profile bio he had been trying to get rid of it. Ten had written it the night Yuta had downloaded the app for him, and most of the messages he had received from people to compliment him on it.

_What up I’m Doyoung, I’m 22, and I never fuckin’ learned how to write a good biography_

Unable to come up with something half as good as that, Doyoung had to reluctantly stick with it.

Biting his lip, Jaehyun feels a surge of confidence course through his body and before Doyoung can reply, he sends his next message.

[Plus, I looked through the photos you selected and thought that you looked kinda cute]

When Doyoung finally replies, Jaehyun smiles in relief, even finds himself laughing.

[… I guess you’re okay. At least you didn’t reply with a message that made you sound desperate and needy]

Jaehyun spends the rest of the evening finally convincing Doyoung to tell him a bit more about himself. He finally learns something about Doyoung’s family, what he was studying at university, and why his friends were the worst in the entire universe.

 

 

[Roses are red  
Violets are blue  
Just like the Titanic  
I will go down on you]

[Are you from Africa?  
Bc Kenya not?]

 

 

“And today’s winners are NCT! Congratulations!”

Doyoung watches on his laptop as the leader- Taeil- begins his winners speech after their newest music show win. This time he was nervous. ‘Jaehyun’ had asked him what more it would have taken for Doyoung to believe him and that was when Doyoung came up with his ingenious idea; if NCT were to win, Jaehyun would have to make a sign to the camera that only Doyoung would know. No hearts, no peace signs, something so random that Doyoung would know it was really him.

So Doyoung waited, and waited, and when the camera finally panned onto Jaehyun, he felt like time had frozen. Without hesitating, Jaehyun finger gunned the camera. Just like Doyoung had asked him to. A couple of the other members laughed and copied him and Jaehyun laughed as well, but he kept the finger guns until Taeil had finished his speech and the camera went back to the hosts.

Heart racing, Doyoung slammed his laptop shut and sat there panicking. Previously he had been so sure and cocky that this guy he was talking to wasn’t a famous celebrity. Now he was confused and scared and didn’t know what to do.

Shortly after, Doyoung receives a message from Jaehyun. When he reads it, his heart races even faster than it already had done before. Instead of answering it, he closes the app and tosses his phone onto his bed, ignoring it and any other message sent to him.

[So, I was wondering… do you maybe want to meet up some time?]

 

 

Doyoung rarely felt jealous of other people. When he was younger, he would get jealous of his brother’s birthday because people paid more attention to him than they did Doyoung. His mum had explained that the same would happen on Doyoung’s birthday and the young boy quickly got over it. When he was in school, he had gotten an almost perfect score in an important test, and yet a boy who got the exact same score as him, was the one who got more praise and adoration from teachers and students. Taeyong later told him that the boy had struggled a lot in class and this was the first test he did really well in, of course people were going to praise him.

Watching Taeyong and Ten act all lovey-dovey in front of him, Doyoung felt a surge of jealousy rise in him again. Before he would roll his eyes and join Yuta in making fun of them or tell them to get a room. Now he watched them cuddled up together on the sofa instead of watching the film Yuta had begged them all to watch with him. He watched as Ten would feed Taeyong pieces of popcorn, or one would whisper to the other and they would laugh about it.

A part of Doyoung was still grossed out- couldn’t they do this in private?- but another part of him wanted what they had. Ten and Taeyong had been together since the end of the group’s first year at university. Yuta had been with different people on and off, some successful and some disastrous. The last time Doyoung was with someone… he couldn’t even think back to it, which was probably why he swallowed whatever fear he had left and finally replied to ‘Jaehyun’.

[I’m free anytime next week if you want to meet then?]

 

 

Doyoung downs his second shot and promptly orders another one. In five minutes, he’d come face to face with the guy he had spent all that time talk to on a dating app; either it was celebrity idol Jung Jaehyun and if it wasn’t…. there was a reason he had picked a bar close to his dorm (and why Taeyong had been chosen as his emergency contact). Just as he downs his third shot, someone taps him on the shoulder and Doyoung nearly chokes when he finally comes face to face with… shit.

“It’s actually you?” he rasps, clutching his chest as another cough takes over him.

“Um… yes?” Jaehyun replies, reaching out to pat Doyoung on the back, but stops himself. “Are you okay?”

“W-why are you here?” Doyoung asks, still being unable to comprehend the situation unfolding in front of him.

“Because you asked me to meet you. Are you sure you’re okay?” Jaehyun replies, now becoming extremely concerned for the guy in front of him.

“I just… I thought all this time you were just some troll on the internet and I was about to get catfished… and now you’re stood in front of me” Doyoung trails off when he sees Jaehyun smirk and turns away in embarrassment at finally admitting his mistakes.

“Now are you willing to believe that I’m real and not somebody who’s really good at photoshop?” he asks, flagging down the bartender to order another drink for Doyoung and one for himself.

I believe you’re really hot Doyoung thinks to himself and looks even more mortified than he had previously when he hears Jaehyun laugh, realising he had said that out loud.

“Why thank you!” Jaehyun gushes, laughing loudly when he notices how red Doyoung’s face has turned. “You look pretty good yourself.”

It had been Ten’s doing. When Yuta had found out that Doyoung was going out, actually going out, to meet someone he immediately made a scene in front of their friends about it. Doyoung tried to lie and tell them that he wasn’t going to meet Jaehyun but they weren’t buying it. The chaos that ensued resulted in Doyoung getting poked in the eye with the eyeliner pencil that Ten was trying to use on him.

The two sit there in silence. If one is caught staring at the other they’d quickly look away, suddenly becoming very shy. Jaehyun surprised Doyoung; one minute he was cocky and made Doyoung a blushing mess, the next he was just as shy as Doyoung was!

“I-”

“So-”

Both speak at the same time and stop, laughing at each other’s eagerness.

“You go first” Doyoung insists.

“I was going to say that meeting at a bar isn’t really the best place to have a first meeting” Jaehyun explains.

“Oh really?”

“Really. I just so happen to know this place that does really great _and_ a super cool deal on cocktails… if you want to go” Jaehyun offers, holding out his hand.

Doyoung doesn’t hesitate. Downing the rest of his drink, he takes Jaehyun’s hand and allows himself to be lead out of the bar. Jaehyun doesn’t let go, even after they’re in a taxi and on their way to the place Jaehyun has in mind.

If they were to drink a lot of cocktails that night and _if_ something were to happen afterwards… Doyoung wasn’t one to kiss and tell his friends. It killed Yuta. It killed him a lot.

 

 

(- It takes another two years for Doyoung and Jaehyun to go public with their relationship. Whenever people ask Jaehyun how they met he tells them the truth- through the dating app. 

\- The only problem is that nobody believes him and thinks it's a joke. They find it hilarious. It becomes an inside jokes amongst the couple and their friends for how many times they can mention this story before somebody starts to become suspicious. 

\- An SM scout spots Taeyong and offers him the chance to audition for the company. Taeyong declines the offer; he's spent too much money and many sleepless nights on his degree to give up at the final hurdle. (Ten also threatened to leave him if he was left to deal with Yuta by himself)

\- Yuta finally gets the chance to meet Winwin face to face. He almost faints. Whilst Winwin finds the meeting extremely awkward, Yuta becomes infatuated with him and vows to make Winwin fall for him one way or another. Doyoung becomes very concerned for his friend). 


End file.
